Index or file



W H. DAY

INDEX OR FILE Dec. 15, 1931.

5 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March '7, 192- Dec. 15, 1931. w, A 1,837,019

' mmmx OR FILE Filed March 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 v v 40 3 -2 38 fPatented Dec. 15, 1931 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICES.

WILLIAM H. DAY, or EAST-HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOE, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, T REMINGTON RAND INC, or NEW YORK, N. Y., A coRroR-ATIo orDELAWARE INDEX, on 1 FILE I Application filed March 7, 1925. Serial No.13,820.

designed to be used ina file cabinet,-but it is m understood that insome of its aspects the invention will not be limited to the detailsshown, nor to the use of the same as de-' scribed. Preferably the draweror tray, or other card carrying device, is made of sheet 1 metal. Thedrawer shown is provided with means to mount a plurality of index cards,such as are shown in thepatent to Irving Fisher, No. 1,048,056 grantedDecember 24,

1912, but should not necessarily be limited :0 to use with such type ofcards. Devices of this character when used as a tray or drawer for anindex cabinet, are usually provided with a handle or drawer pull, whichis secured to the front wall of the same; When constructed of sheetmetal, the front wall becomes weakened and occasionally distorted underthe constant strain, due to the pull exerted upon the handle. Myinvention, therefore, contemplates a drawer front structure which willobviate this tendency to distort, by the provision of a Inorerigidconstruction for a drawer or tray at this point. One object of myinvention is to provide an improved supporting member or drawer to carrythe reference members in a convenient and suitable manner so that thesame will be protected against undue wear, and will at the same time bereadily accessible. Another object of myinvention is to pro 4 vide adrawer for an index or file, in which the index members may be retainedin proper position.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a drawer-or trayhaving an improved form of construction at the front face thereof, whichwill obviate any tendency of the same to become weakened or distortedunder continuous use;

A still further object of my invention is to provide a facing plate fora drawer of the V beiprovided. .7

. in'the direction of the arrows;

character described, which plate may be applied to'the drawer in such away that a pocket for the drawer label or the like, will enerallyspeaking, my invention con templates the provision of an improved drawerof this type made from-one piece of sheet metal, and of suchconstruction that it will be strong and durable and yet light inweightand pleasing in appearance as well as inexpensive to manufacture.

. To these and other ends, the inventionconsists in the novel featuresand combination of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: I

F ig. 1 is atop plan view of an index card supporting member in the formofa drawer or tray, embodying the features of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same;

Fig. 3'is atop plan view of the front portion of the drawer on anenlarged scale, without the indexjcards;

Fig. 4 isanenlarged section on line 44 of Fig. 1, through the frontportion of the drawer with the cards removed Fig. 5 is an enlargedsection on line 55 ofJFig. 1, through the front portion of the drawer,with the cards removed; r

Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of the drawer with the outer frontplate removed;

"Fig, 7 is a partial'section through the front of the drawer on line77of Fig. 2, looking Fig. 8 is a rear view of the front plate member,looking into the same through the openpspace at the rear;

Fig. 9 is a section through the drawer on line 9-9 of F ig. .3, lookingin the direction 'of the arrows,and

Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section through a drawer having a slightlymodified form of outer. front plate. I I

' For illustrating the featuresof my invention, I have selected andshown a supp rt or base member, for reference cards or the like,

in the form of a drawer 10, formed fromza single sheet of metal suitablyshaped to provide the desirable depth. This drawer-has a a bottomportion 11, which when in use, is sub,- stantially horizontallydisposed. The ma terial forming this bottom portion is bent angularlyupward at each side, as at 12 and 13, then outwardly, as at 14 and 15,then vertically downwardly to provide side faces 16 and 17. The edgesare then turned backwardly toward and in abutment with the drawerbottom, as at 18 and 19, and are depressed slightly below the drawerbottom, thereby forming runways upon which the drawer will slide upon asupport. The front portion of the drawer body as shown in the drawingsis curved upwardly as at 20, and then abruptly bent downwardly as at 21to form a front face member for the drawer. The rear portion of thedrawer body is also curved upwardly as at 22, and the edge portionthereof is bent back upon itself as at 23, in order to stiffen thedrawer crosswise at this point. Grooves 24 and 25 extend substantiallythe entire length of the drawer body to assist the box like sideportions in stiffening the drawer lengthwise.

An in dex card retaining strip 26 is mounted lengthwise through thecenter of the drawer. This retaining strip is provided with outwardlydirected flanges 27 and 28 at its side edges, which are adapted toengage tongues 29 of the type of index cards described in the Fisherpatent, above mentioned.

A pair of bails 30 and 31 are provided, which are hingedly secured tothe drawer bottom by means of supporting members 32. The supportingmembers 32 are preferably spot welded to the drawer bottom, as at 33,and are located closely adjacent the angularly extending sides 12 and13. These bails assist the index card retaining strip 26 in properlyretaining the index cards 34 within the drawer by bearing upon the upperedges thereof and urging the same downwardly by gravity.

A pair of ears35 and 36, in this instance struck up from the materialforming the drawer bottom, are provided at the forward end of thedrawer, .and are so located that they will engage an edge of theforwardmost card in order that the cards will not slip out of'the drawerduring the movement thereof in and out of the cabinetor other storage device.

Label card retaining cars 37 and 38 are struck outwardly from thevertical front plate 21-of the drawer, and a series'of hooklike members39 are struck out from the same plate, being directed upwardly to formouter front'plate engagin fingers; The side vertical portions 16 and 17are extended beyond the drawer at the front end, and are formedin'theshape of ears 40, which are bent face portion 42,"having arearwardly di rected upper edge flange portion 43, and a rearwardlydirected lower flange portion 44, which is extended beyond the loweredge of the plate 21, and along the bottom of the drawer, as at 45 and46, respectively, and at 46 it is preferably spot welded to the same.The portion 43 of this outer front plate is provided with spaced apartlabel receiving openings 47 and 48 forming passageways, through whichsuitable labels 52 may be inserted into the space between the plates 41and 21. In the front face portion 42 of his plate, there are provided apair of openings or windows 49 and 50, through which the insignia uponthe labels may be observed. An inwardly directed flange 51 is providedabout each of the windows 49 and 50. This flange somewhat restricts thespace between the outor plate 41 and the front plate 21 of the drawer,so that the label card 52 will be some- .tween the plates 41 and 21 atthe ends and somewhat vertically stifl'en the outer plate member. Theseend closure portions also assist in locating the front plate 41transversely upon the drawer. A handle member 55 is provided whichpasses through the front portion 42 and is riveted over on the inside asat 56.

The rearwardly directed flange portion 43 is slightly depressed at itsrear edge and abuts the'front end of the drawer bottom in this instance,as well as the upper edge of the inner plate 21. The hook like members.39 engage the edge of the flange portions 43 and retain the same inclose abutment with the front of the drawer, thereby securing the outerfront plate to the drawer bottom at this point. The rearwardly directedlower flange portion 44 closes the bottom of the space or recess betweenthe plates 41 and 21 to form a bottom for he label card pockets. Thisflange portion 44 continues rearwardly until it is in engagement withthe drawer bottom, and is at this point secured thereto. In this manner,the inner front plate 21 is substantially enveloped by the outer plate41, and the space or recess therebetween is substantially enclosed. V l

The modification-shown in Fig. 10 consists of a somewhat diflierentlyconstructed outer front plate 60, and there is provision of separatecard retaining ears 61. In this construction the front face portion 62is extended upwardly beyond the upper front edge of the drawer adesirable distance, then bent rearwardly as at 63, and then downwardlyas at 64: where the edge of the material is enga ed by the ears 39. Aslot or slots is provided in the portion 63, through which label cardsmay be inserted into the recess or space between the plate 60 and theinner front plate 21. In all other features this outer front plate issimilar to the previously described one, as is also the body portion andinner front plate construction of the drawer, with the exception thatseparate card retaining cars 61 are provided which are spot welded orotherwise secured in proper position upon the drawer bottom.

One of the advantages of the drawer construction above described, isthat a drawer body of given depth is adapted to be used in cabinets orthe like, having the distance between the drawer supporting partitionseither the same or greater than the depth of the drawer body. This ismade possible by the use of a front plate of such dimensions that thespace between the partitions will be closed by this plate at the frontof the cabinet when the drawer is within the same.

From the above, it is obvious that this invention has provided a lightyet rigid and durable index card supporting member, easily andinexpensively manufactured from sheet metal. The structure describedwhere by the outer front plate portions 43 engage the ears 39 of theinner front plate, and the securing of the portion 46 to theundersurface of the drawer bottom causes the strain, due to the pullupon the handle 55, to be distributed directly to the drawer body andnot upon the inner face plate 21. The inner face plate 21 is braced bythe side member ears 4:0, and being vertically disposed relatively tothe drawer body strengthens the drawer at the front portion againsttwisting or other distortion. The label locating ears 37 and 38, and theflanges 51 to the openings 49 and 50, with the adjacent front surface ofthe inner plate 21, form spaced apart label card pockets into whichlabel cards 52 are readily inserted from the top through the passageways47 and 48, respectively, and within which the labels will be retained inproper position relatively to the windows 49 and 50. The inner and outerfront portions of the drawer cooperate when constructed as abovedescribed to form stress reducing means for the front portion of thedrawer.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention,it is to be understood that the same is not limited in all of itsdetails but is capable of many modifications and variations thereofwhich will lie within the spirit of the invention and the scope of theappended claims.

\Vh at I claim is:

1. In an index or file, a facing member for a" dr'awer* oathelilie,'including an upper flange portion engageable with. a portion ofthe front of said drawer, a front plate portion having openings therein,and spaced by said. flange portion from the front of said drawenandialower flange portion extending beneath-said. drawer andse'cured thereto,said first mentioned flange portion being provided with T a drawer labelreceiving opening through which a label or the likemay be inserted' soasto be observable through the openings inwsaidi front plate portion;

2; A facing member for the front of a drawer or thelike, including afront plate havingka flange portion engageable with a portionof saiddrawer front adjacentits upper edge, andanother flange portionextending-rearwardly over a surface of said drawer bottom and securedthereto,said front plate having openings todisplay a: drawer labelvorthe like, said first mentioned flange portion. having'openings to allowthe inser-' tio-niofadrawer labelto the. rear of: said front plate.

3.: Inaniindex or file, the'combination of a drawer having a bottom,said bottom rising upwardlyatthe front end thereof totform an upperfrontedge for said drawer, a member co-extensive with the widthof saiddrawer disposed across the front thereof to form a front faceforsaiddrawer attached to said bottom, and another memberin front of. andspaced" from said first mentioned member whereby a recess is formed'therebetween, said second mentioned member substantially envelopingsaid first mentioned member and secured'to saidbottom at the upper andunder surface thereof. 7

4. Ina drawer for an index or file,an inner front face member and anouter front face member, said members being'spaced apart to provide'alabel receiving recess therebetween, an opening insaid' outer memberthrough which the label may be observed, pocket forming means onsaidinner member for retaining the label in position relatively to saidopening and against transverse displacement therefrom. r

5. In a drawer for an index or file, an inner front face member and anouterfront face member, said members being spaced apart to provide alabel receiving recess therebetween, an opening in said outer memberthrough which the label maybe observed, means on said innermem'berforretaining the label in position relatively to said opening, and

against transverse displacement therefrom,

and means on said outer member restricting the recess at the rear ofsaid opening to insure the action of said label retaining means.

6. In a drawer for an index orfile, an inner front face member and anouter front face member, said members being spaced apart to provide alabel receiving recess therebetween,

an opening in said outer member through which the label may be observed,pocket forming projections on said inner member for retaining the labelin position relatively to said opening and against transversedisplacement therefrom, one of said members being formed to provide adownwardly directed passageway communicating with the pockettherebetween for the insertion of a label card therethrough and intosaid recess.

7. A drawer for an index or file, having a bottom formed with an innerfront face member, and an outer front face member having marginalflanges engaging said inner front face member and spacing said outerface member from said inner face member, means uniting said outer facemember with said inner face member, whereby said outer and inner facemembers in said spaced relation'provide a tubular drawer front and havestress reducing cooperation.

8. A drawerfor an index or file having an inner front face member, anouter frontface member, means mounting said outer front face member inspaced parallel relation with said inner front face member. andcooperating means on said inner and outer face members for receiving andretaining a label between said members and displaying said label throughan opening in said outer face member.

9. In a drawer for an index or file, a'bottom having an inner frontfacemember, an outer front face member having flanges engaging andspacing said outer face member from said inner face member, and means onsaid outer face member extending past said inner face member and securedto and/engaging said bottom in angular relation, said flanges, means andface members having stress reducing cooperation,

10. In a drawer for an index or file, a bottom having the forward endinclined upwardly, an inner front-face member secured to said bottom atits upper edge, an outer front face member having marginal flangesengaging the edge portions of said inner face member and spacing saidouter face member therefrom, an angular extension on said outer facemember secured to said bottom, and means preventing lateral displacementof one face member relative to theother, said face members having stressreducing cooperation. 1

In testimony whereof, I have hereuntoset my hand this 5th dav of March,1925.

WILLIAM H. DAY.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,837,019. Granted December 15, 1931, to

WILLIAM H. DAY.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 4,line 9, claim 6, for the word "recess" read pocket; and that the saidLetters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the samemay conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 9th day of February, A. D. 1932.

M. J. Moore,

(Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

